Diwali Special – Rose Rooh Afza Cake

I don’t always come up with brilliant ideas, but when I do, I have got to blog them stat just so that I don’t forget it.

So, I wanted to make something nice and different from what I have always made for Diwali (not that I have been doing this thing for years or anything, still) and as I opened the fridge like I do every other minute for no reason, I noticed a bottle of rose water in there and that my friends, has been one of the two best moments of my life this week.

As I went to the kitchen to get the knife to open the sealed bottle, the other best moment of my life this week happened. I found the Rooh Afza bottle pushed behind where I keep the cutlery and for once my mommy brain actually worked super fast and I came up with a brilliant idea.

A cake with these two combined. Awesome or what? Best part, it’s vegan!

Just to clarify, I am not vegan but I know a lot of my friends are, for various reasons and I know these people love themselves some cake. So I have been consciously trying to make things suitable for these sweethearts too.

Anyway, let me quickly jump to the recipe without trying to be funny and failing at it and praising myself for my own brilliant ideas.

Also, this cake isn’t babyfriendly or healthy. With Diwali is coming up and I don’t see a point in trying to make sweets healthy. I just can’t be that party pooper. Sorry!

So, here’s what you need:

Dry ingredients:

• 1 and 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp each of baking powder and baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil)
• 1 cup unsweetened soy milk (any other non-dairy would do too or use regular dairy milk if you aren’t vegan)
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 2 tbsp rose water
• 1 tbsp Rooh Afza (use lesser if you want a milder flavor)

Chopped nuts (optional)

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease a baking tray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
4. Gradually pour the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix everything well until properly incorporated.
5. Pour the batter on to the greased baking dish, top with chopped nuts, if using and bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Please note that oven times may vary.

A cake that takes all of 40 minutes from start to finish of which only ten minutes is when you do some real work. Could there be anything easier to make?!

My first batch of these cakes went to some dear friends and I think I may have been successful in convincing a Rooh Afza hater to go get some Rooh Afza just so that she could bake this cake. If that isn’t a win, I don’t know what is.

I must warn you though – This cake is super rich, flavorful and moist. So if you plan to make other sweets, I’d suggest you keep them subtle so that you can truly enjoy the piece of heaven that is this cake.

Now, quickly go make this for everyone around you this Diwali and spread some love and happy, will ya?